NASCAR Sprint Cup round 35: Phoenix (Chase race 9)

[fieldodreams79]

well, according to NASCAR.com, the leader hasn't really slipped much at PIR
also shows that the 48 has an average finish there of 5.4, and Mark Martin of 9.0.

Mark Martin has out-pointed Jimmie Johnson twice in 11 races at Phoenix.

so they're saying there's a chance....

let's hope Rudy and Sammy can both start somewhere around the 48.

ENTRY LIST

[fieldodreams79]

Truex takes his third POLE of the season with Kurt B. on the outside pole.

48 starts 3rd while Mark Martin rolls 10th.

LINEUP

[MJ_N_09]

Cars 1 and 2 START 1st and 2nd. How about that?

[skells22]

i wonder when the last time cars 1 & 2 started on the front row of a NSACAR race?

[MJ_N_09]

^ It never happened before.

[gomick]

Whats the tip - Johnson to dominate & crush the opposition

[gomick]

Lap 12 - Joe Nemechek hasnt retired yet...

[gomick]

Rookie mistake by Dale Jnr on lap 172 - took out some good cars...

[Knowlesy]

Woo! Go Dale!

[MJ_N_09]

Dale...Dale....tsk tsk.

[Dutton]

Um, come on. He got a bit loose. It happens. It just so happens this is a short track, so the chances of it causing problems is increased.

I am no great lover of him, but you can't really hang much on him in this case.

[gomick]

Sums up his year...

JJ is killing them today...

[Knowlesy]

May not have been Jr's fault anyways.

We need to get Sam Hornish Jr up front and putting pressure on the 48.

[chunder]

Good Lord, I thought NASCAR was supposed to be close!!

This guy is simply miles faster than everyone else and seems to be every time I watch a race.

Why is this so popular!

[Dutton]

Truex gets a top-5! After starting on pole, too!

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am outrageously happy right now.

Well, Jimmie doesn't dominate and crush in every race chunder. In the grand scheme, NASCAR is close and competitive racing in terms of the races. Championship wise, there is no doubt Hendrick dominates in rather total sense (Jimmie in particular in recent years).

There is always going to be a very few at the top who tend to dominate no matter what racing it is.

[MJ_N_09]

Well......see you guys next year. Or at least in the Silly season thread.

[JHamilton]

I forgot how cool Phoenix is. Too bad the racing is... off.

[Cynic]

My gawd, what a boring race. They could have flagged it after 100 laps for all the difference it would have made. At least Dale jnr did hhis best to liven it up although I don't really think he's entirely to blame - it looked very similar to what JJ did last week. Did the old car have similar problems with people breaking loose when getting really close on the outside, or is this somthing unique to the COT?

Maybe it's just me, but Jimmy doesn't ALWAYS crush the opposition. He only does it in the last ten races of the season. The rest of the time he's good but not great. I think the Sky announcers called it right last night - JJ and CK have obviously put a lot of time and effort in to learning the chase tracks, and just enough everywhere else to actually make the chase in the first place.

Here's a question for the stat lovers - if I understand correctly, all JJ's championships have happened under the 'Chase' format. What was his average position before that?

[gomick]

2002 - 5th
2003 - 2nd
2004 - 2nd (chase)
2005 - 5th (chase)

Awesome record for someone who only won 1 Nationwide/Busch race before he went Cup racing.... Does Jeff Gordon still own part of the #48?

For the record, JJ's win was the 47th of his career, puts him ahead of Buck Baker on the wins list...

[fieldodreams79]

to put the 88's year into perspective, a PRN commentator made this statement during the Texas race:

"If a meteor was to hit the racetrack, it would surely land on the 88."

Originally Posted by chunder

Why is this so popular!

it is starting to become more unpopular the more the 48 wins and the more boring the racing becomes. and it has some but not much to do with the consistancy of wins by chad knaus.

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by gomick

2002 - 5th
2003 - 2nd
2004 - 2nd (chase)
2005 - 5th (chase)

Awesome record for someone who only won 1 Nationwide/Busch race before he went Cup racing.... Does Jeff Gordon still own part of the #48?

he didn't race for HMS then and i believe Gordo still has part ownership in the 48.

here's another interesting fact about Gordo and the 48...the 48's first cup win came at Fontana in the same car that Gordo won in the same race/track the year before.

hard to argue with other stats and facts, however i look at it. i still don't have to like it.

[Adam43]

JJ was a happy chappy afterwards wasn't he. He seemed to feel the pressure after the 38th.

Of course, the others could try to be better than the JJ.

[Dutton]

Originally Posted by Cynic

Maybe it's just me, but Jimmy doesn't ALWAYS crush the opposition. He only does it in the last ten races of the season. The rest of the time he's good but not great. I think the Sky announcers called it right last night - JJ and CK have obviously put a lot of time and effort in to learning the chase tracks, and just enough everywhere else to actually make the chase in the first place.

I have heard Chad in various interviews talking about this. They focus their whole programme around being golden in The Chase; the rest of the season they use to prepare for that, but of course making sure they are good enough to comfortably make the cut in the first place.

I have heard Jimmie talking about it too, but it tends to be Chad asked more often I have found.